THE DOZIER SCHOOL FOR BOYS

The history of a reform school that abused and tortured the young people sent there.

The Florida State Reform School, opened in 1900 and later named after former superintendent Arthur G. Dozier, was intended to be a place where youth could be educated and given the skills they’d need to become independent citizens. However, almost from the beginning the school was problematic for the boys: The work was dangerous, and strict discipline protocols involved severe beatings, deprivation, psychological torture, and, some claimed, outright murder. Until 1968 the facilities were racially segregated, with black youth receiving more hazardous work assignments. In the early 21st century, survivors began telling their stories, and a 2007 case of physical abuse was caught on surveillance cameras. State-led investigations into the school cemetery and the survivors’ stories drew attention from media and activists. The author, herself a forensic scientist, explores how the school operated without much oversight or reporting and the ways criminal science was used to piece together a picture of the horrors many endured. The testimonies of the survivors and the forensic research into those who died at Dozier are the most compelling aspects of the book. The many photographs and sidebars will make this accessible for young readers.

A grim, harrowing, and important read with insights into the troubled juvenile justice system.